Electrical connectors or fittings for the attachment of electrical cables were disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,194,661, 6,355,884, 6,521,831, 7,161,095, 7,304,251, and 7,329,144, which are commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention and the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference thereto.
As they are used to establish electrical continuity between metal clad cables and a metal electrical box or panel, duplex electrical fittings include connector bodies that are typically constructed of metal to provide a good grounding path between the cable and the box or panel. The most common method of manufacturing metal connector bodies for duplex fittings is by metal die-casting. Heretofore, in order to provide the internal structure of the duplex fitting, the connector bodies are typically constructed in two pieces and then joined together by screws or similar fastening means to form the connector body for the duplex fitting.
Although two-piece connector bodies for duplex fittings have become the industry standard for connecting two metal clad cables to an electrical box or panel, the two-piece construction of the connector body adds significantly to the assembly time and assembly cost as a separate manufacturing step is required to fasten the two pieces together. Therefore, what is needed is a one-piece duplex fitting or connector that eliminates the need for a separate assembly step and thus greatly reduces manufacturing cost.